


Syzygy

by Loyalty_Bound_Knight



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Child Frisk, Eventual Possession, F/F, Gen, I'm not kidding, Multi, Nonbinary Frisk, Other, also in which frisk is going through too much and nobody understands until it might be too late, but who knows, cute moments, cutest, frisk is a cute child, i love puns, lots of child frisk and cute things, non romance focus, pacifist, pacifrisk, plus - Freeform, there's gonna be a skele-ton of jokes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 20:18:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5219405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loyalty_Bound_Knight/pseuds/Loyalty_Bound_Knight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Syzygy definition: An alignment of three celestial bodies, like the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth.</p><p>In which we follow Frisk into the Underground--and they're aided by someone others can't see or hear.<br/>But a few others know of the child's guide, and as time goes on, there's more to see, and as it'll turn out, even more to fear.</p><p>We can only hope for the best, after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolouge

" _C o m e , c h i l d_ "

Gripping a fragile piece of paper and a tiny flashlight, a small human enters a wide, moist cavern. It stunk a bit, like rotten fruit, causing the tiny human to wrinkle their nose in mild distaste. Walking down the path that seemed rather well trodden for being off limits, they stumbled, almost aimlessly, before taking sudden turns at forks and junctures in the path, going deeper and deeper into the underground, following.. Something.

" _D o  n o t  b e  a f r a i d_ "

Sliding down a slope, they wipe their face and continue walking while opening up the map and peering at it, seeing it only went so far as the enterance of the cave. With a small huff, the human discarded the paper, only to realize they had started walking in water. It was shallow, barely touching the cloth of their shoes. Shrugging it off, the human journeyed on, careful and aware.

Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy, as a few more steps forward revealed a large, gaping hole, full of water. They yelped, splashing into the water and struggling to stay afloat, being sent forward by a current, the waters getting rougher, more harsh. Coughing up water as it came in, the small one called for help, before hearing their lead whisper to them, calmly.

" _W a t e r f a l l_ "

And, wouldn't luck have it, there was one.

So the human fell into the darkness below, hurdling back into dark waters, now unable to see at all, having lost what little sunlight that gave them vision and the flashlight they had packed for safe keeping. They drifted until the washed up on a shore, only feet away from another large hole in th ground, unknown to the tiny one. They took a moment to gather their strength, coughing, and checking themself for injuries, finding none.

Getting up cautiously, they moved, feeling the ground with their feet as they moved, shivering from the dampness and chill of their clothing. They stumbled a bit, over a vine, shrieking as they fell, once again, into a hole they didn't see coming.

Down.  
Into the underground.  
Into darkness.

" _W e l c o m e  h o m e_ "


	2. Toriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a few characters decide to roll with things, like charts and running kids.

Spinning... The world was spinning.. Head hurting.. Rubbing their head, they blinked away tears, heaving labored breaths as they shifted in their spot. Golden flowers surrounded the small one, granting a softened fall, at the very least. Not knowing how they survived, they took a moment to sit there, wrenching out their soaked clothing, before they slowly got up, noticing their scraped up and bruised knees. They winced, not letting out a sound, when they felt like they were lightly pushed forward, going forward with a hint of fear. It wasn't much to get them moving, though, considering that there was little to nothing that would keep them there, nor any reason to.

After a moment of walking, they came upon another golden flower bed, but it was off; one of them were much larger than the rest, not to mention an eerie smile on it's face. "Howdy, I'm Flowey! You must be new to the underground. You’ll have to learn how to survive here, but I guess little old me will have to-” The voice that lead Frisk here interrupted the flower, voice overpowering it’s speech, though it was unknown to the golden one, it boomed in the human’s ears.

“R u n.”

It was a voice not too unfamiliar, and it was certainly not unwelcome, as the flower had already sent an anxious chill through their small frame, wrecking it with anxiety and foreboding.

The noise propelled them into a run, startling the flower so much, causing it to duck immediately, remembering timelines when Chara was in control--only to notice that he had been overshot, and the human had practically flew over him. He pulled himself back up, confused, before smirking to himself, “Well.. That’s new.. Interesting.” He snickered softly, shrinking back into the ground, deciding, like many other timelines, to follow the trespasser. Frisk, on the other hand, had taken off to new heights, speeding quickly, before running into a room with, what they guessed, a puzzle. The answer was a little obvious, as the plaque gave a direct and obvious hint, considering there was a little path connecting two buttons. It was easy, but Frisk did it in a panic, unable to control the sensation of fear and adrenaline that coursed through their veins.

The door opened when the four free buttons were down, and they went on to the next room--or, well, would have, if not for a soft, giant wall that they had ran smack-dab into. The human fell back, wide eyes staring up at a goat-looking woman, who probably had some dragon in her? They didn’t know for sure, but she seemed very surprised before turning her facial features concerned. “Are you alright, my child? Oh dear, you’re bruised and hurt--what happened?” She leaned down toward them, and Frisk quickly scooted away, a burning need for the voice to tell them if they were safe or not. Of course, while they heard a voice, it wasn’t just the only one they desired.

 There were two, foreign yet familiar voices that froze Frisk in mild horror and shock.

**“ Fight. ”**

_“ S a f e “_

**“ Attack her. “**

_“ R e l a x , c h i l d “_

**“ KILL HER. ”**

_“ D o n ‘ t “_

* * *

 

In another area, in a completely different tone of mood, and by that I mean the exact same feeling fills the air, but in a much less toxic tone. A certain, yellow, scientist sits in her seat, eating a cup of spicy ramen, and she was in the middle of watching some new anime she found, about a bunch of boys and some sport. She didn’t understand it that well, but it was really attractive--uh, well, the animation! Yes. Exactly.

Breaking from that, the show immediately paused by another program, one that was programmed to pause or stop all other procedures, popped up, displaying several charts and graphs. For the most part, each of them had low readings, reaching far below the average, like an unmoving heart beat. Up until about two hours ago, at least. They shot up, and while it wasn’t completely uncommon for it to spike, it was unheard of for it to stabilize and last for as long as it has. Choking on the cup of ramen, she took a moment before rolling closer to the screen, squinting at it for a moment before frowning. “What?.. I-I don’t think..That’s not possible?” She muttered, tapping away at the keyboard, doing a systems check, before it was confirmed it was, indeed, possible and not a malfunction. She rubbed her face, a chill running through her skin. “I--This. Okay. Okay, okay.”

She took a deep breath, pulling out her phone. “I should text Papyrus to tell his brother about this. He needs to know. He’ll know what to do. Right? Yes, of course.” She typed away, getting a nervous shake, having to backspace and go back to correct words to make it coherent. She debated sending it to Undyne, but, well, she would be nosy and would figure something’s up. On the other hand, Papyrus was trusting and wouldn’t question it--besides the fact it was to his brother. The text was a little longer than her normal length and it wasn’t the most eloquent, but it got the point across.

“Hey, Papyrus. ^_^ Would you mind doing something for me?? Can you tell your brother that the W.D.G is high? I mean, it’s probably nothing to worry about but you know him. He may want to know. So. ^w^;; Please be quick with it too. It’s been awhile since it spiked and it’s not dropped at all.. In fact, uh, I think it may have?? gone up?? I don’t know. It’s coming from the ruins, which, well, you know he’s probably standing guard there soon. So. Uh. Please? Soon?? ^w^;;”

She sent it, and immediately regretted it. No, she should have waited a bit longer, this was too soon. Or was it? She checked the time and shook her head, making a slightly pained face. This was the time Papyrus would be training, too. Dang it, so Undyne would know. Well, at least, whatever Sans told them would give them some kinds of heads up. Maybe it would be convenient? She didn’t know for sure, and she just leaned back in her chair, staring up into nothing. Closing her eyes, she just rested for a moment. Or, well, a little bit longer. Maybe an hour. By the time she woke up, another hour had passed, and the screen in front of her had crashed. She launched up, frowning and tried rebooting her computer, taking a few moments to fix it.

While it was loading its files, there was a knock at her door. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the door to look out of it, before opening it up. “He-hey, there. My computer crashed, but, uh, yeah. You need to see this.”

* * *

 

Waking up to a warm, comforting, and soft area was, admittedly, unexpected for the human child. They laid there tiredly, feeling an ache in their bones and soul, not wanting to move but knowing they would have to soon. Sitting up slowly and carefully, they took in the fact they had new pajamas on, soft and fuzzy; it's not that they minded, they just had no idea of where it came from.

They got up from the bed, wincing at the weight they put on their knees. Apparently, they must have passed out sometime, as their memory was blurry at how they got here. Looking themself up and down, they only noticed the bruises on their knees, and the few minor injuries here and there that they gained during the fall. How they survived was beyond them--how can someone live falling down a waterfall and a hole? Something nagged at them, as if it’d tell them the answer, but it was brushed off.

They began to take in the room. There was a music box that played a nostalgic tune, a wardrobe, a box of shoes, their old clothing that seemed to have gained a few stitches, a box of toys, and among other things, some kind of pie on the ground. They went over to their clothing, quickly changing into it, pleasantly surprised to smell a clean, flowery scent from it. Frisk smiled, rubbing their now clean sleeves on their face. It was so much softer too!

After checking everything else out and turning on the lamp, mildly surprised and ecstatic that the music box changed its pitch to go along with it, turning the light off and on to test and just hear the tune change each time. Leaving it on, they went over to the pie, leaning down and taking the plastic frog fork off of the plate. They immediately decided to keep the frog fork on them, it was too cute to set back down!

Poking the pie, they eventually took a small bite of it, and a flood of memories flashed before them, before fading just as fast, only tiny bits remaining. Like seeing a large, noble looking goat looking sadly at them, a sweet goat woman smiling and holding a book--the one they saw earlier, they realize, a boney looking guy glaring them down, and a few other memories that didn’t make sense. They blinked it away, allowing themself to taste the pie and--wow, was it sweet.

It cinnamon and some kind of candy that took a moment to identify as butterscotch. They squeaked in awe that such a treat existed, and went on to eat the rest of it. When they finished, they notice that there was a note underneath the plate, carefully pulling it out and looking it over.

“Hello Child, I hope you are feeling well and rested; you were in such a panic when you ran into me, so much so that you screamed, fainting right on the spot. I was so worried! I hurried to get you to my home, so I could put you to rest and clean you up. I hope you don’t mind, but I mended your clothing, and fixed you up a plate of Butterscotch cinnamon pie! Which, I hope, you ate before reading this; I don’t know when you last ate, so I thought it would be nice to have something on your stomach. Was it to your liking..? If so, you can have more later, I have plenty of it. Anywho, if you’re feeling up to it, head down the hall to see me!”

It was signed by a Toriel; the name rang familiar, to all aspects of themself. All but a small bit of them said to respect her and to treat her kindly, and Frisk had no reason not to. After all, she had been so kind to them. They got up, fiddling with the fork nervously, peeking out of the room and tiptoeing out. They went down one side of the hall first, looking at the mirror and making a face before fixing up their hair, a mop of a reddish brown hair now made to look soft and flowing. It wasn’t short, but it wasn’t long either, going down to the middle of their neck. Frisk took in a deep breath and grinned at themself, pepping themself up to go meet this Toriel, which the multitude of feelings in themself said to be respectful and kind.

They started their walk, looking in a room that wasn’t theirs and leaving to move on. They didn’t want to get into trouble, after all, and they moved past the room under renovations, past the stairs, and into the living room. The goat woman looked up from her book and smiled at them, “Hello young one. I’m glad to see you’re well. Did you sleep well?” She asked, putting a bookmark in her book and closed it, gesturing for the human to come closer. Stepping timidly toward her, Frisk nodded respectfully, chewing on the inside of their mouth. “I know I mentioned this in my note, but in case you can't read yet, I am Toriel. I brought you here to make sure you were okay and, well… Here you are! Heheh. I really hope you don't mind this all, considering how you had been so freaked out when you saw me... Let us not dwell on that for now, speaking of you, what is your name?”

It was an innocent enough question, but Frisk wasn’t exactly the type to talk much, as they would be considered by others as selectively mute, since they didn’t enjoy talking too much. It felt too weird, most of the time.Thinking about whether or not to respond to the question, they ended up opening their mouth before closing it and opening it again, like a fish outta water.

When they answered, there was more than one name that echoed from their mouth, all at once.

“ I’m--”

**“ Chara. Hello ‘Mother’. “**

_“ H e l l o, m y q u e e n. I t ‘ s P r o f e s s o r G a s t e r.”_

“--Frisk.”

The goat woman blinked, furrowing her brows. “Frisk? What an odd name.” She smiled at them, “But I think it suits you, little one.” Frisk shuddered, feeling a chill run down their spine, before nodding at her, slipping a small smile on their face. Had she not..?

Of course she wouldn’t.

They didn’t have Frisk’s mouth. Not yet, anyways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm open for criticisms, as I feel like this isn't the best?? Like, tell me how I can make this better!!  
> I want to make sure this is good, like, REALLY good since this is such a good plotline in my head!


	3. The Monarch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To put it simply, this may be a slow burning kinda thing. Whoopsies.  
> But sometimes it will go faster. It really does depend.

        A little while later, Frisk was looking through Toriel’s books, too unnerved to try and talk to her about it, but at the same time she was a comforting presence. She just seemed happy they had taken on an interest in the books, talking about how education was key, and that she would show them around the Ruins later. They would love to take her offer, but they were afraid of talking and hearing the others trying to talk in their place. They ended up deciding to just keep quiet, and use sign to speak. It was scary, if Frisk was honest. They knew about one of them, the Gaster guy, but the other, Chara, was foreign and sounded too close to their own thoughts for any sort of comfort.

       Catching themself feeling unnerved, they steeled themself, turning themself into a blank slate, not letting any emotions through. Silently fingering the books, they picked out one that said something about "Snails: The Fantasy Life". Apparently it was a kid's book, and the drawings were colorful, easily capturing the young one's attention. They sat down next to the bookshelf, looking through the book are trying to read it, only having issues with a couple of words like rambunctious. ("ram-buns-she-us?")

       They thought to ask Toriel, but they had their doubts about her being able to read sign. Of course, though, she noticed the small one's look on their face, looking scrunched up and confused. She strolled over, leaning down to sit next to Frisk. She smiled down at them, placing a warm hand on their back. "What's wrong? Are you having issues reading something? I wouldn't mind helping, I do quite like helping others learn. It may come as a surprise to you, but I would love to be a teacher..Uhm, well, maybe it isn't a surprise." She chuckled, looking down at the book. Frisk grinned at her, suppressing a giggle, pointing out the word they had trouble with, tapping at it lightly. She looked over it, nodding, "Rambunctious. Ram-bunk-shush. It means to be rowdy, or to be mildly destructive. I feel like that it's the opposite of you--you seem a little calm, if I may be a little presumptuous."

       Quickly reading the confused look on Frisk's face, she added, "Presumptuous means to judge something based off of some part of themself that one can see. I presume you're calm because you haven't ran around, as well as the fact you went straight for the books. It doesn't mean I'm right, but it's like guessing at how someone or something is." She decided to clarify, since she didn't know if Frisk would understand it correctly without it. They beamed, nodding in understanding; Frisk loved learning, and if there was something they could get to read or learn, they'd be on it in a flash. So, naturally, they got things quickly, for the most part.

       Toriel rubbed the small human's dark brunette hair fondly, getting an idea. "Why don't we go to my favorite bug hunting spot? I think you'll have fun there, and I can teach you about each bug we see." The human paused, feeling several feelings at once, one urgency, another of boredom, and one of excitement. It took a few seconds to sort out what they themselves wanted to do, and they looked to Toriel and eagerly gave two thumbs up.

 

* * *

 

 

        Once again, in another place, the large yellow lizard was talking to a short, stubby skeleton, both sides waving hands frantically about. Hushed whispers, with an occasional raised voice. They were walking through darkened labs, white, malformed creatures watching curiously before focusing on the food the lizard was passing out. 

     "Look, we can't know for sure. Trying to track this--it's not moving from the ruins, right now. I know that it's incredibly hard to find these things, but.. What can we do? Well, uh, b-besides waiting and watching the entrance?? Is there even someone beyond that door?" 

    "I know. It's just that it's such a high concentration. Not to mention, it seems that the others parts are gravitating toward the source. And, well, there is one person. She's a real howler when she laughs. Just sayin'."

     Alphys rubbed her face, sighing softly and trying to imagine what all kinds of thins they could be talking about..All..kinds of things, right?..Wait.. "Right.. I don't really think?? I want to know. But, you know, if you go down there soon, you should.. Warn her?? I guess? I think that'd be appropriate." She suggested, and while nervous about it, she knew he could do it whenever he felt it was best to do so, which meant soon because he would want it out of the way and to keep his friend alive. 

    "I have a shift in a few minutes, so even though it'll be a huge pain in my back, I can do it. I'll do just spine.. Plus, I think I could hammer out a few jokes. I hope I hit the nail on the head with them, though." He chuckled, while Alphys snorted, knowing that he was doing this just because she always tried to keep up with him and this game. 

Sometimes, though... 

"E-even still, I'll keep my ion the camera." 

     "Heheh, nice one. I should be going though. I don't want tibia late for work. I mean, this important and all, but I gotta be knee-n on being on time and stuff for my job." He winked at her casually, turning away from her.

As if it was totally normal, she blinked and he was gone. She still has never gotten used to that. "I don't think I wanna be Sans a Skeleton, in more ways than one.." 

     Grumbling, because she actually joined in the puns and enjoyed them, she walked out of the old lab, and to the computer, pulling up a large window, staring blankly into a wintery wonderland. It wasn't blank for long though, as the skeleton brother walked onto the screen, glancing over at the bush and he knocked, hard. It echoed, even through the cruddy speakers, and it made her wonder how thick the door could be, and when the other would hear it--they'd have to be pretty far to not hear it at all! 

    She eyed the monitor before hearing a knock--or, well, banging--on her own door. She scrambled for a moment, shutting off the screen with hesitation. Stumbling to the doorway to peek out, she saw a tall, boney figure with another one, who, well, seemed to be on the verge of collapse, to put it bluntly. Alphys opened the door to them, urging them in urgently and shutting the door, telling who she seemed to judge was, Papyrus to hurry and grab some water for Undyne. It took him only a moment to get some, pouring it on the fish girl and she reacted after a moment.

     Needless to say, Alphys wasn't going to turn on the monitor with the two of them there, that would be a little too suspicious and confusing. So, she decided that she'd have to contact Sans again, later. Now if only he had given her his phone number-it's not like she'd be brave enough to ask.

     "What are you two here for? I mean, why? I, uhm, wasn't really expecting company." She shuffled to get a glass of water into the microwave to boil it, deciding to make tea for the two of them--Undyne brings her some every now and again, but she doesn't drink it often. Mostly when she ran out of soda, did she drink it, or needed something to help calm her nerves. 

Actually, a cup sounded really good right about now. 

 

* * *

 

 

       Cupping their hands carefully, they held them up to their eye, peeking in between their fingers at a small, fluttering butterfly. Giggling, they turned toward Toriel, showing her their catch pridefully.

      "Wonderful! Open up your hands, little one, and I can tell you which one it is." Frisk did so, and it took off, out of their hands. "Besides, isn't it more pretty than it was in your hands? Look at how it's flying--you were so gentle with it! It's not hurt at all." Frisk nodded, grinning at the delicate thing.

      They seemed much calmer now, Toriel noted, now that they weren't cooped up alone. "Ah! That's a Monarch butterfly. It's the queen--or king--of all other butterflies. This one is young, so it's no surprise it's small! They can get much, much bigger, though, much like you will!" She informed, Frisk listening intently. There was no telling how old Frisk was, nor what grade they were in--and they just didn't seem up for telling about it either, so it was just teach as you go and hope that you hit something they hadn't heard before. 

       "Not to mention, they start off at such strange state--a caterpillar. You do know what those are, right?" She asked. Frisk gave an affirmative in way of wriggling around like a worm, prompting a giggle from the woman herself. "Yes, yes, of course. They're quite small, and since we're big, they're powerless against us. But, that doesn't mean we have a right to hurt them. Do you understand?" 

       There was a silence for a moment, before they agreed, having contorted their face into one of distaste. It confused Toriel, considering how they hadn't even thought about hurting the butterfly earlier. Nevertheless, she reached out and patted their head warmly, smiling at them. 

       Not a second later, there was a sudden, slow knocking. 

        She tore her eyes away from the small human, furrowing her brows in mild confusion before sighing and standing up, taking the small one's hand. "It seems we have something of a visitor, Frisk! He's a very funny fellow, and I think you'd like him! I should admit, we do speak through a door, so I don't know what he looks like--or what his name is." She said, clarifying before the child could sign any objections. 

      Immediately after that, all parts of them were eager to move, suddenly thrilled at the prospect of something new, old, familiar. Bounding alongside her, they pulled out their frog fork and tossed it up and down again, with their spare hand to keep them occupied while they walked out of the bug hunting spot, past the froggits, and spider bake sale (they bought some spider cider, since Frisk hadn't had a drink yet), and toward her house again. It was a little surprising that it was so easy to echo down here. But then, it was easy to hear if someone had fallen, too, as well as a slew of other things. 

     Toriel explained it was due to magic, the acoustics of the cavern, and the fact that much of the ruins were built atop one another, and was surprisingly thin. Once again, magic was what held it together, more than likely due to the Core's magic--she refrained from mentioning that, though. They entered the house, and she cut another piece of pie for the tiny human as a snack when they went down, through the winding halls of the exit. Then through one large, intimidating door, to the next. The knocking grew louder, and louder, and Frisk was nervous. Not only because meeting new people could be scary, but.. Well, the other two were amped up as well, muttering incessant things only their ears could hear.

 

 

** "Get ready Frisk. We're gonna go get 'em."  **

_"S h u s h,  c h i l d. W e   w i l l  d o  n o  s u c h  t h i n g.  W e  w i l l   b e  q u i e t . I  h a v e  a  p l a n   t h a t   c a n n o t   b e i n t e r r u p t e d ." _

** "Like I care. It's not important to me."  **

_ "O f c o u r s e y o u d o n ' t . B u t  I  d o   a g r e e   f o r   t h e m   t o  g e t  r e a d y ." _

** "For what? Not like you can do anything." **

_ " Y e s,  y e s , b u t   t h e y   c a n . N o r   c a n  y o u .  B u t  I  n e e d  t o  d o   s o m e t h i n g .  N o  o n e   w i l l   b e  h u r t  t i l l  t h e n ."  _

** "Eheh, sure, whatever you say. Till." **

 

 

      Frisk was relatively calm about them--relatively. Had it been under a more tense situation, they may have freaked out again, and caused a ruckus--perhaps like last time. Toriel whispered to Frisk to stay there, and to remain quiet so she could surprise her friend with another friend! They obeyed, zipping their mouth shut happily, ignoring Chara making a gagging noise. Gaster tended to neutral and silent during most things, but that wasn't always the case. 

     She approached the door, much more vast and much more lavish than the last door had been. Then, she said, "Who's there?" 

     The knocking cut off immediately, replaced by a deep, goofy sounding voice saying, "Tibia." 

"Tibia who?" 

"This is going tibia bad joke." 

And she just howls with laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry so much for the delay! I was caught up in school and the like. Just a lot of personal stuff. Though I WILL finish this, I don't know when!  
> Suggestions or small side-shot ideas are welcome.


	4. It's just something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Frisk should not meet people. Also, Sans is smart as heck--just.. Not as motivated or as equipped as Alphys. For this, Sans will be much more knowledgeable, they're evened out by how little he'd do.. Until he starts working again, with all of the equipment, and maybe someone else's?...  
> Who knows?
> 
> Plus, let's just say Frisk will pass out quite a lot in this fic. They need their rest, too.

       Sans began speaking to Toriel after a few more jokes, and with each one, each word, Frisk felt a jolt down their spine. Not to mention a strange creeping sensation spread out from the base of their neck. They sat rigid, fiddling almost mindlessly with the fork. They didn't really feel like the could do anything else at this point, the feeling being numb and paralyzing.

       It was just a moment later that Sans sobered up, and brought up something that made Frisk twitch. "Hey, look, I know we're on a _roll_ , but I gotta bring out the curiosity _buns_ and let them cool with answers. An easy way to ask about it is if anything.. Strange or new is in there? I mean, like anything that's interesting."

         "Oh, it's funny you ask that!.." She hesitated, before continuing in a low voice, "Remember that promise we made? Well..I found a human. They're small, and very nice. Not to mention, they seemed to have liked your jokes!" She said, glancing back at Frisk who somehow managed a wave and a thumbs up. "Do you want to say hi?" She encouraged Frisk, urging them forward, and they moved up slowly, feeling their legs move with the strange feeling in them, thick, like oil in their veins.

         They stumbled toward the door, looking at Toriel. She smiled, "They don't speak much, and they seem nervous, but don't worry." She said, rubbing their head fondly. "They aren't going to get hurt or hurt you."

        Sans, on the other side, was holding his breath about that. _A human_. And the signs going off. That was too much all at once. He'd leave the human alone if they stayed in there, but if they didn't, he couldn't leave his brother alone. He knew how humans could be.

      "Heya, kiddo." He said casually, like a disconnect between him and his mind.

       Frisk, taking a hint from their jokes, carefully knocked lightly in response, and Sans on instinct replied, "Who's there?"

There was a beat of hesitation before Frisk pushed out, stuttering before getting their words right, "Ho-ho."

      "Ho-ho-who?"

"Your S-santa impression could use s-some work."

       This time, Toriel cracks up and hugged the small human, and Sans made audible snorts from the other side. They grinned, proud of themself for getting such a reaction from the both of them.

"Oh, man, that was good! Hey, kid, knock knock!"

       "Who's t-there?"

"Snow."

     "S-Snow who?"

"S'no use. I forgot my name!"

       They pfft'd before giggling endlessly, and Toriel was sitting down, laughing hard, and she urged the small one to sit with them. And while Frisk quieted down, throat hurting from even the littlest use, they were beaming. Internally, the could feel one of the others feeling similar to them in ecstasy, but the other was discontented and very annoyed with the situation. Thankfully, the two of them overpowered that one.

     Toriel made jokes in Frisk's place, and they sometimes signed and gave her the punchline. Half the time, she was the one laughing before she even got it out for the skeleton on the other side.

     Sans, on the other hand, had a laugh that was deep and bellowing. It was a sweet thing, just sitting there in the midst of such a nice conversation. It filled Frisk with **determination**.

      Eventually, Frisk was getting tired, and they leaned on Toriel. She noticed, and told Sans that they had to go to bed, and would talk to him later. He chuckled and gave her an affirmative, before asking to tell her something privately. Frisk walked forward a bit, but their feet seem anchored at just a few feet away. They just couldn't move, like someone had hands on their ankles.

      "Look, lady, I know you probably like the kid, but I'd keep an eye on 'em. Listen, some bad things might be goin' on, and I think you should be careful." Sans whispered, just above an audible level for the child. "I don't think you have to worry about them. They do have strange moments but.. They are not bad." She said, much easier to hear than Sans. "That's not the only thing to lookout for. I can't tell ya' about it since I don't know much about it myself, but, well... You know. Anyways, I have to leave. My brother will be here soon." He said, lightly tapping the door.

      "Later. Seeya, Kiddo." He said just a little louder, like he knew the human was probably listening. Stepping closer, something overcame Frisk, moving them like they were on autopilot.

"Frisk. My name is Frisk. You're..?"

      There was a silence, hesitation, worry, a mixture and clash of emotions in a second.

"Sans. Sans the skeleton."

      Then it went dark.

 

* * *

 

       Alphys was watching some Mew Mew Kissy Power: Romance Fur Action! The Prequel sequel sequel. Basically, more action than romance, and it even seemed to capture Papyrus' attention. The three of them had somehow ended up making a pallet on the floor, watching the anime on the huge computer screen. She had seen this series at least ten times, both dub and sub, so she could afford to focus on other tasks, namely programming her phone to display the camera's so she could watch from her phone. It wasn't really hard, just a little tedious to connect to every camera.

      She took her eyes away from the phone to see Undyne mimicking the characters, and Papyrus quickly following suit. It was, honestly, really sweet and cute. She watched, grinning, joining in as a character and suddenly, they were roleplaying. Err, LARPing, technically, but it's similar enough. It took them a good twenty minutes to get back to watching the show--and they rewinded it and all--and Alphys bashfully checked the cameras. She had to manually flick through each one, all the way to camera number one, which was right at the ruin's doorway. It was set to mute so the others wouldn't hear, and she just saw Sans talking to the door, and sometimes his shoulder shook, like he was laughing.

      That relaxed her, and kicked the edge off her shoulders. She sighed in relief, and began to focus more on the anime. But she kept checking her phone every few seconds. Boy, was it hot in here..?

       Undyne had scooted closer to Alphys, nudging her, "Look, they just tore the Mew Mew amulet's wand up!"

       Alphys' head snapped up, and her eyes were wide, "Wait, what? T-T-that's not supposed to happen?--"

Undyne gave her a large, shit-eating grin, "I know, but it doesn't seem like you're focusing on the show. What're you doing over there? Something so cool that takes you away from our awesome Mew Mew heroines?"

      Alphys fidgeted, flushing a bit, "It's nothing? Sorta. I-uh. Well, yes, but it's...? I-it's a.. I-i-it deals with, uh, s-something Asgore told me to do?? I-it's a secret job, s-so.. It's nothing big, just a secret thing! I would tell you about it, if y-you knew all of the details, but you don't, so. Ugh. You know what. I just can't tell you, but I can tell you it's a thing that is big and you should be wary and yeah."

      Undyne stared, very confusedly, and snorted, "If it's anything bad, I'll take it down! So don't worry Al, if I even need help, Pap over there can help me." She jabbed a thumb in the skeleton's direction. "He can actually fight pretty well! Although--actually, you know that bit." She cut herself short, shooting a glance at the sweet skeleton, who only was primarily focused on the show, entertained by the characters. None, of course, were as good as him at anything ever. "Even still, Asgore and other could join in too, even if it's not the best idea. The Underground is in good hands."

      Alphys sat there, thinking. Quietly, she relented, "Yeah, I know. It's just that this is something that could..Change? Everything? It's really complicated. If what we're guessing happening is happening, then we could be shoved forward in a ton of work, yet also be endangered? It's a..bit of a mess, really." She whispered, careful to keep Papyrus from hearing them.

      "Is that why you keep checking your phone? To see if anything has happened? Because if there is, we can always run to the River Guy--or girl-- Monster, to take us to where ever it is." Undyne said, adding, "We can leave Papyrus here, yeah? You can automatically lock whatever he shouldn't get into or have watch over him. I could even call the guards, R1 and R2 to come and keep watch over him." She suggested.

       Alphys rolled the thought over in her head, turning it over and over to look for cracks, but coming up with none. Besides, it was an excuse to hang out with Undyne. But she didn't really.. Want to leave. "B-but. I'm of more use here. I can keep him here if it's bad, w-which it shouldn't be. So if anything does happen, you two should go."

       Undyne groaned, her idea being replaced by a better one, yet also disappointed that the other wasn't going to leave with her. "Alright, fine, it makes sense." She said, then gesturing to her phone, "I'm gonna watch more of the show, unless you want to talk more..?" While Alphys would love to talk more, there wasn't much to talk about at the moment... "I think I'm good, for now." She flushed even more, "But! I'm not opposed to talking more!! If..you want to?" Undyne smiled at her, deciding to tease her even though it was her idea, "Yeah, but, you know, we're still watching a show! We can do that later!"

      Alphys squeaked a bit and covered her face, "O-oh, right!! Sorry!"

Undyne laughed and patted her back. "It's okay! But now back to more romance! More action!" She chuckled, focusing on the show again.

      The yellow lizard almost did the same, before remembering to look down at her phone and--oh. _Oh no. Oh no no no no no no NO!_

The door was slammed wide open within a second of her checking her phone, and Sans was just a blue blur in the air, flickering out of sight.

 

* * *

 

      Needless to say, Toriel was frozen the her spot beyond the door. How did..?

      Frisk used magic to blast open the door..? She didn't know how; humans had no magic, didn't they?

       So, just in time, Sans had teleported back easily avoiding the blast, and hunched over with the effort and surprise of the sudden blast. If he hadn't sensed the magic, then.. He'd be a cloud of dust on the back of the door. "What just..?"

Frisk stood there, staring out into nothing, but their body was moving.

      They walked forward, something white behind them dissipated before the air clear of the snow that scattered about. Their facial expression was dull; hollow. Nothing was behind it. They just moved forward, not even noticing Sans before he stepped in their way.

       "What are you doing, Frisk?" Toriel called, moving to stand behind them. Obviously, they didn't respond.

        "Look, kid, I just met'cha, but I think you should probably not do that. And, maybe, stand right there. Yeah? Like, for a minute. Or two. Maybe more. I can be patient. Maybe, uh, until you tell us what's gettin' your goat." He said, locking the little specs of light in his eyes on their small frame.

        Then they just looked at him. To be more accurate, looked through him, and stared at him, their eyes off and strange, like they were trying to change but couldn't.

They gave a soft smile, waved and signed to him, " _Nice to see you again; you've grown quite a lot._ "

        After the last word, their body began to shake, wrecked with shakes and their face contorted into one of discomfort, then pain, then surprise, and finally, a look of tiredness over took their features.

Frisk fell into the snow, exhausted from the exertion and power from causing the blast, and perhaps other things.

And then there was one beat oh a heart.

And then two.

And on the third one, Toriel was by Frisk's side, fretting over them and checking for injuries, before looking to Sans and then to the human.

         She was obviously trying to decide whether or not to take them forward or back. She didn't want Asgore to get his hands on them but--if they just used magic, were they human? Would that mean he'd be after the child? She had no idea, but she did know that they had to get them somewhere warm--their clothes aren't suited to the cold, nor would they be able to gain body heat easily without fur.

         Toriel had noted that their body was wiry, thin, just an step away from being horribly malnourished.

          "How close is the town from here?" She asked, holding the child to her, obviously wary of Sans. He relaxed himself on command, easily, shrugging a bit.

"It's a long walk, not counting the puzzles. I don't know how long the walk is to your place, but it's colder this way." He said, coming up to her and reaching out a hand to help her up. She eyed his hand, before making sure to keep a tight hand on Frisk and use the other to take the skeleton's han--

**_Pfffbbbbbbbbbbbbtttt......._ **

        "Uh, you can ignore that. I forgot to take it off. It's the old w--"

"Whoopie cushion in the hand trick!" She said bemusedly, cutting him off and finishing it for him. He finally pulled her and the child up--with the help of Toriel, obviously. There was no way he could lift them both up himself. He was strong, but not in that sense. He had no meat on his bones, so to say.

       "So, we could trek back or go to your place. Either is fine with me."

      "Excuse me, but--we?"

      "Well, considering they just blasted open some doors, I don't know if it's be a good idea to leave you alone with them."

       "I understand that, but, I just don't think it's safe for you to come either."

     "Well, I could always use a shortcut. But, uh, considering how the kid is, I don't know if it'd be quite a good idea. I don't know how they'd react to my magic. So..?"

      They stood there for a moment, in silent thought and debate, before Toriel decided that, perhaps it would be a good idea to let him join her. Besides, it would be safer that way; he had, in the past, talked about how he wasn't at all interested in hunting humans despite working as a sentry. It was a part of a catalyst that got her to break and ask him to protect any human that came through.

      Another part, though, was when a young child, even younger and smaller than Frisk, came down and lived with her. It ended up, though, that they played a little too much with the monsters, and accidently got.. hurt. And then they panicked, and ran through the puzzles in the ruins and--well.. Their soul was given up to Asgore by the monster that found them. "Let's go back. I do not want to cause a stir in town, so I think it would be better, faster, and safer that way." She said, tipping her head at Sans, who simply nodded along.

       "Alright, cool. I can take a break from my job right now anyways. Though my brother will be here for his shift soon, too, so we may wanna hurry. He may be a little more than confused with these doors opened, but I think he'd be more upset that I'm not in my station."

        Leading the way, Toriel cradled Frisk as they walked beyond the doors. She hummed softly, a tune that would soothe all of the child had they been awake. She was a calming presence for all she was around, and it was evident in the way she carried herself that she still wouldn't hesitate to chew you out for something, yet then turn around and spoil you rotten. Down through the winding hallway, and up the stairs, she took Frisk to their room again, shooing Sans out so she could change them into dry, warm, pajamas. It took a few minutes to find one that fit the tiny human into a good pair, and she found some slippers for them; though both the pajamas and slippers were too large, they would have to do for now.

        She made a mental note to mend them to fit them later, before realizing she may not get to. It upset her, but she would deal with that when the time came. Right now, she determined, would not be that time. She tucked them into bed, removing their items to sit a few down and to take the rest to clean off, like the fork. Upon exiting the room, she closed it and left the music box playing, hoping it would relax them while they rested.

 

* * *

 

       "Right. So before then, they didn't even have a hint of magic coming off of them? Not even a little bit?" Sans questioned, and Toriel shrugged. "Not much, if at all. There may have been spikes, yes, but then there are spikes in the Ruins constantly. In fact, it felt as if the Ruins' magic itself flared up whenever the child seemed to be having.Moments, I could say, and--whatever it was that happened."

       Sans rolled it over in his head, thinking about when they signed to him. "Again. They said two impossible things at once, and I don't know if they're just a little outta it, or if somethin' else is going on." He started running through the possibilities in his head, checking things off and kicking things out.

He sighed, giving up quickly.

        "I'm not sure. I'd have to have my friend check them out and see what she could do. She would have more answers than me." He said. He mostly just didn't want to go through with trying to find the answer alone, but he knew he could do it at some point if he had his lab with him. But he didn't, so he could only guess at this point.

      Pulling out his phone, he realized that he didn't have Alphys' phone number. He looked over to Toriel and winked at her, his grin plastered to his face, forever unchanging. "Well. I think I gotta go back for a bit. I need to grab something, and, eheh, maybe someone too.. Don't worry, they're an ex-coworker and friend of mine."

Sans stepped out of the room before Toriel could object, fading into thin air with a flash of yellow and blue.


	5. It's Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Frisk doesn't like things and Undyne is impatient.

       Stepping out of the void and into the warm air wasn't that much of a shock to him, no skin to let the freeze cling to him. He glanced around, mildly confused about the state of affairs he found the room in. There was a pallet on the ground, left thrown asunder. He didn't see anyone on the lower level, so he walked upstairs to no avail. The skeleton happily stepped on the "walk-way" to ride until he got back to the living room area, if you could call it that, and went over to the bathroom.

         Obviously, like everything else in this house, it wasn't as it seemed. He tried the door, finding it locked and he simply placed a code into a keypad--Heh, still works--and went in. He walked along, hands in his pockets. It had been a long, long while since he was here. It sent chills down his spine, remembering all that they had done, like sins on his back. Of course, they weren't that bad of "sins", so to say. Just experimenting with magic, souls, and maybe too many other things that shouldn't have been messed with.

        He tossed the memories to the side, strolling about the labs and doing his best to ignore all of the amalgamates. They shook him to his core, as they were the results of experiments that failed, and lives lost and combined. There were a few that did work out, but those cases were never reported to have happened. A secret, so to say. Even to the king himself. Finally, he heard someone talking, muttering 'oh no's and clattering on what he guessed was a desk. He didn't bother knocking on the door as he opened it, seeing the yellow lizard placating an upset reaper bird. It seemed to calm down quickly, and he guessed she's had to do that many times before.

        Strolling over, he looked over to the desk, which was a horrible mess, similar to that of his room, and could tell the bird had been having a field day on top of it. "Sheesh, Al, it's like it had a _bone_ to pick with you." As he said that, she yelped and practically jumped ten feet in the air, pale with worry.

         "O-oh my god. S-S-Sans? I th-thought you were--well, uhm, obviously yo-you're not. I think. Oh dear. I think I nee-need to make a call." She whipped out her phone, pausing before just sending a text instead of calling. Sans creased his supraciliary brow-or, well, eyebrow bone, (what a Super-Silly name to call it!), "Oh man, what'd you do? Don't tell me..." She stilled, fidgeting a bit, "I may have, uhm... Sent Undyne to Snowdin to help you?? Papyrus joined in too, since, well, it was his home and he needed to go on his shift anyways.."

          He sat there, looking at her, and his eyes went dark. "So you sent them both to a place where we don't know what's going on. I coulda handled that myself, you know that." He huffed, looking to the side and at an incorrect equation on some papers. No wonder it took her some time to get some things done.

"I guess we should go then, to stop them."

"Yeah, you prob--wait, we? No. Nonono. Not 'we'. I know exactly what you mean by go. You know I get sick when you do that!"

"Do what? Take a short cut? Maybe you shoulda thought about that before sending them in a situation you had no clue about, besides that camera of yours. So do me a favor and grab some equipment to find the anomaly and the magic, and we're gone. Also, don't forget that we should have a cube holding all the things we may need. You got one, right?" He said, figuring the opened door would confuse Undyne and Papyrus at the very least, considering it had never been open before.

      Besides, Jerry was there and he would tag along until Undyne snapped at him and they ditched.

       "Oh. My. God. You're insufferable sometimes." She muttered, going to her desk and grabbing things, ordering them, and then reaching into multiple drawers to grab other things. "No wonder you won that one award.. I swore I had that in the bag. Ah, also? Can you go and get something from the fridges? It's a small box, I normally keep it cold so it stays compressed, and Snowdin should keep it like that unless we get it warmed up."

       Sans shrugged, "Sure. Still same place?" He asked, walking toward the door.

"Yeah, it's going to be in one of them."

 

* * *

 

 

       Undyne was hunched over herself, panting. She had just ran all of the way from the River monster's spot to the Ruins' door. Papyrus did too, but he didn't have to lung it as much as she did. "Shoot, this is.. Really.. Far in. If it weren't so cold, I'd be fine. Bu, whoo.. My lungs. I never thought they'd burn like _this_."

      Papyrus took off his scarf, draping it around Undyne's shoulders. "Have no fears, Undyne! I, the great Papyrus, will keep you warm! Kinda! My battle scarf will keep you warm! So it is a part of me, since it's my battle body, and all of that. So it is me and yet not--ugh, You know what I mean!" He stomped the ground a bit, expelling air from his ..nose?

      Undyne snorted, standing up straight and adjusting the scarf around her neck. "Yeah Pap, I do. Thanks for the scarf!" She smiled at him, it being basically like her very own catch phrase. "Look, can you keep watch out here for me? I don't want any civilians getting in here, and I want to escort any who have traveled in, out."

      Papyrus saluted, "Don't worry, Undyne!! I'll keep an eye socket out! I'll consider it training for being a part of the royal guard!" She patted him hard on the back, "That's the spirit! I'll be back soon, but if I'm not, call the others to come here and check it out. I'll leave it up to them if they'll take you or not."

      With that, she turned and went into the door, coming back literally a moment later with a Snow Cap...And then another... And then another... To clarify, it took her only a while to bring out a multitude of monsters, many of which had congregated at the bottom of the stairs at the end of the long and winding hallway. They had been speaking quietly since they could hear someone upstairs, and it scared them enough to keep them from heading up above.

       They were afraid of who it was, but Undyne caught them before the first one even started up the steps. She whisper-yelled at them, rushing them back, urging and urging them back home. That was a pain, as many started to try and stay still, before being forced forward again. She even had to drag a few. She felt like they should put out a rule stating that you didn't enter random doors, ever. It was just a mess.

       By the time she had finally reached the stairs again, she heard three sets of footsteps, and frantic talking. She creeped forward, cautiously, attempting to listen to the voices, when she heard something behind her. She turned, glaring behind her to see.

Fucking.

Jerry.

        She took a moment to breathe in deeply, before yelling at the weird looking monster.

        "What the hell, Jerry?! Get back to Snowdin before I have to drag you there myself!" She realized the mistake immediately, cursed, and grabbed him by his cheek and pulled him back quickly, glancing back. The voices above had went silent, no way in hell being that they didn't hear her. Honestly, she wished monsters had a better sense of self preservation. Including herself, honestly.

 

 

* * *

 

        Toriel had quickly set up a barricade at the staircase's base, not wishing to be, in the very least, taken by surprise. She set a few bells all over the pile too, so it would be loud if someone damaged it.

         Gripping her arms tightly, she paced outside of Frisk's room. The other two had went in, and insisted she didn't follow for the first bit so they could talk privately. She made them promise to not hurt the child, and that if they did, she let them know that there'd be serious consequences.

She never went back on her word.

        Sans nodded, having said he wouldn't break his promise unless it was a dire circumstance. And, well, Alphys just stuttered a "Yes Ma'am." Not to mention she also gave them five minutes, which they both protested to, saying that was just enough time to set up their equipment--and she told them that they'd better hurry, because time had started.

Err... Toriel was protective, to say the very least, and to say some more, she could be ruthless. It was a little mortifying to see such a pun-loving woman, who was kind and sweet, suddenly be so threatening. It made her size apparent, being both tall and broad, obviously a boss monster. The insignia, even still, made it even more apparent that she seemed to be someone of high stature.

        She was counting the seconds, and it wasn't long till she hit 20 seconds left. 19..18..

She heard bells jingling in the distance. Tensing up, she turned her head to the side. She didn't know which way to go. To stop the two scientists with Frisk or to stop the intruder?

        It didn't take much convincing to run to the stairs, going for the unknown threat. This person seemed to be much more of a threat than the others. She knew Sans, sort of, and Alphys didn't seem bad, if more nervous and goofy. So, she stood at the top of the staircase, glaring down at the intruder as they shoved aside the last bit of the barricade, to look up to see Toriel.

        Her face flickered with recognition before confusion, and then to something like a glare, but it was much too soft.

        "Who are you and why have you come here?" Toriel demanded, commanding in tone and not expecting--or rather, tolerating--anything less than the truth up front and fast. "I'm Undyne, Captain of the Royal Guard, and I'm after whatever hurt my friend. Or for that matter, where my friend is, too. I don't really want to fight you, I just want to find them." She said, holding up her hands in a non-threatening gesture.

         Something told the fish-lady she would be hard to fight, and she wanted to avoid any kind of harm to monsters and her friends. "Your friend wasn't hurt. They just went back to get someone and brought her here to..Help me out. No one is going to be hurt, not on my watch." She crossed her arms, eyeing the fish woman.

         "Yeah, well, what if I don't believe you? Why don't you go get them, and maybe then I'll believe you." She crossed her arms back, snuffing out the anxiety that threatened to rise. This gave Toriel pause, and she sighed, holding up a hand to signal for Undyne to stay in her spot. "Stay there while I go get them." She was thankful, since this gave her an excuse to go and grab the two out of the room and to check on Frisk.

          She hurried, fiddling with the door and opening it to see Alphys tapping away at a laptop on the floor, wires connecting it to a headset on Frisk. Sans was holding some kind of reader that was going off. Sans glanced back, looking at Toriel.

        "Hey. Wassup?" He said, casually and ignoring the beeping of the reader. It went off constantly down here, but it hadn't stopped yet since he turned it on near Frisk. He even teleported out of there, to Snowdin, to test the equipment. It had immediately stopped when his feet were planted in the snow.

          "Someone is here to see you two. A girl named Undyne." She said, tapping her foot lightly. Sans sighed and nudged Alphys, getting her attention. She was absorbed in her work, not even noticing the light filtering in from behind Toriel. "Oh, uh. You can come in?.." She said, before Sans whispered to her and she flushed. "Oh, oh oh... I forgot to send the text. I may have..Wimped out?.. Uhm, crap, let me just go and say something to her." She got up, hastily taking everything off and setting things down, handing the laptop over to Sans.

"You continue."

"I believe she wanted to see the both of you." Toriel interjected, making the lizard seem to deflate.

Sans added, "I think she'll be fine with just Alph. We need the bare- _bones_ minimum of people who know how to use this stuff, watching over it all." He offered, giving the lizard some hope. Toriel sighed, relenting and not wanting to argue.

"I do not care. Please just make it so she will not bother Frisk or anyone else."

       Alphys nodded, leaving the room and running off to go see her crus--friend. Toriel walked over to the side of the bed, cautious of stepping on anything and checked Frisk, who besides looking a little pale and fragile, seemed alright. She released a sigh of relief, sitting down on the bed.

       Sans had taken a seat on the floor, tapping away at the algorithms and editing some of Alphys' work. She had some lazy sequences and boy was it a little bit of a task to fix. He didn't really care, though, since it'd provide more accurate results and he doubted she'd notice the mistakes. "Just so you know, I'm not mad that the kid tried to kill me. Actually, I don't think they even tried to. More like wanted to, but it's, uh, kind of complicated."

       Complicated, as in he kept getting random wavelengths that fit neither human nor monster standards, and yet, all three were there and coexisting in Frisk. At this moment, it was peaceful, but if he went back a few hours in the timeline, they had flared at several intervals. She nodded, looking at all of the materials, and she carefully chose her words. "All of this... Do you two.. Happen to be the royal scientists? Or maybe his assistants?"

       She remembered they had one in the past, and he was a skeleton as well. He lasted a long time, supposedly even after she left. She wasn't one to stay up to date after leaving, since it made no sense to if she didn't want to associate with the ones who were okay with taking people's--especially children's--souls.

**"The old one means nothing."**

Frisk's face flickered in pain.

        Toriel stroked Frisk's hair, trying to care for them, deciding that she would need to cut it to make it neater later--it was a messy of layers that had been unkempt and uncared for. "I'm not, but Al is. She's not bad at her job, but sometimes I gotta help her out."

     "What about the old royal scientist? What happened to him?" She inquired, tilting her head in his direction.

      Sans shifted in his spot, suddenly uncomfortable. "That's also really complicated. See, uh, he was put outta commission."

      Toriel seemed to deflate a bit at the news. "Really? He was such a good man.. Albeit he was very into machinery much more than manners and emotions, he didn't take them out of the equation..I do mean that literally. May I ask what made him leave, or..otherwise?" She admitted he was a bit too devoted to his work, and she highly doubted he would have quitted due to any cause besides being unable to.

       "See.. Uh.. He wasn't made to leave or anything. It was more of an accident, or something. He fell into something he made, and it didn't..end well. We didn't find dust." Sans sighed, looking at Toriel, registering something in the white lights of his eyes, and he decided he should give up information he was practically sworn to secrecy about. "He wasn't killed, at least not how we define it. He was scattered across time, space, and the void. In places we both can't and can see. It's a huge pain. We only know all of this because one day Al found some random encrypted file on her computer and after we decoded it, found the programs to track pieces of him."

        "Dunno how it got there, how it actually keeps up with him. But basing off of it, we found ways to track other types of souls, and how we learned about 'em. How we found things out." He paused like he was going to say more about that, but omitted it, continuing, "It's due to that that we can tell that..Uh.. I'll just tell it to you straight. The kid has something of him inside of them, and some other soul that is similar to theirs in an aspect. I think it's easier for the other soul to cling to them because of the part of Gaster, the professor, in them."

At this point, Toriel looked absolutely mortified.

       "And, uh, we dunno to what extent Frisk is actually Frisk. Or Gaster. Or whatever that extra wavelength is. Point is, kid's not alone, and that magic they used...was Gaster's. They even somehow summoned the blasters..? I dunno. I dunno a lot of things about this.It's wild. It's just the kid has too much of him inside of themself, and the magic of the underground may, uh, be making the effects of the extra souls much more..potent."

      Toriel sat there, digesting this information. She took a moment to look at all of the equipment, to see all of the work they had. "Very well then.. Tell me. Do you think Asgore or the other's would pursue this child's soul with these other..aspects, in them?"

      Sans thought about it, before shrugging. "I think he wouldn't. He'd be more concerned or leave it up to Al's decision. She'd totally be down with keeping Frisk alive, though, so I wouldn't worry about that. I'd be more concerned about what would happen after--or if--we get that piece outta them."

      **"I'm waiting to see what I can really do."**

      Frisk's fingers twitched, gripping at the bed.

      "We will, somehow. Both of them. I want to be sure that this one is treated peacefully--and that they'll live, too." Toriel said, "The two others will be outed, and we could, possibly, find a way to help them too. To get bodies, if possible."

**_"I n e e d i t, n o w."_ **

       Frisk gasped in sudden, sharp pained breath, before bolting upright, scaring Toriel off the bed. The small human practically flew off the bed, knocking the materials over. They dodged past Sans with ease, who tried to grab at them. Taking off and out of the room, they moved toward the stairs before seeing the two monsters talking-well, who were talking until they burst out.

       Shooting off in the direction of the ruins, they were gone. Undyne called after them and sped after them, leaving Alphys by the stairs awkwardly. Toriel was out and asked which way they went.

      "T-They w-w-went to the Ruins!"

        With that, Toriel was out of the room, graceful yet fierce. Sans walked out, scratching the back of his head.

"Wowza."

"What?"

"She's one hell of a lady."

 

* * *

 

_**Run.** _

_**Run.** _

_**Run.** _

_**Run run run run run run run run** _

_**RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN**_.

  **They want to kill you.**

No they don't.

**They want me back, to take your place.**

Shut up!

**They want Gaster to come back.**

I can't give him away.

**You're just a nuisance to them like that.**

I just can't...

**You mean nothing. ... Nothing nothing nothing--like the lack of chocolate in Dad's fridge.**

Be quiet..

**Like what they did to you.**

I said be quiet!.. 

**You deserve nothing. Are nothing. Will remain to be nothing.**

_I a m t h e n o t h i n g , y o u a r e t h e o n e w h o c r e a t e n o t h i n g , a n d t h e y a r e . . . ?_

I am, and will continue to be me.

**...**

_. . . A n d w h a t , e x a c t l y , i s t h a t ?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahah, I've realized my writing style is kinda?? Boring? I guess you could say? Do you guys mind that or should I just keep it this way for consistency's sake?

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo.. first time I've written in literal hell knows how long. This will be fun, and I can't promise to update regularly, since my school is hell incarnate, and y e a h.  
> See you next chapter.


End file.
